1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable computer, and more particularly, to a device swapping apparatus for a portable computer.
2. Background of the Related Art
A portable computer has a light, thin and small configuration for the sake of convenience of portability. A device to be selectively used in the portable computer is detachably mounted into a bay of a main unit of the portable computer. Examples of devices to be detachably mounted into a bay include optical disk drives, batteries, heat radiating units, and the like. As an example of such devices, an optical disk drive will be herein described.
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an external appearance of a general portable computer. Referring to FIG. 1, the portable computer 1 generally includes a main unit 3 and a display unit 5. The main unit 3 generally takes the shape of a flat rectangular plate and includes various kinds of parts of a notebook computer 1 including a main board, a CPU, a memory, a hard disk drive 9, an optical disk drive 10, a battery and the like. Further, a keyboard 7 is provided on a top surface of the main unit 3.
Although the hard disk drive 9 is configured to be detachably mounted to the portable computer, it is necessarily used to operate the notebook computer 1. However, the optical disk drive 10 is not necessarily used to operate the notebook computer 1. Therefore, the optical disk drive 10 can be selectively mounted into a bay (not shown) formed in the main unit 3 of the portable computer. On the other hand, if the optical disk drive 10 is not mounted in the bay, an additional device such as an auxiliary battery can be mounted therein. The optical disk drive 10 includes a connector 11.
A liquid crystal panel is generally employed in the display unit 5, which is connected to a rear end of the main unit 3, so that the display unit is folded to or unfolded from the top surface of the main unit 3. The display unit 5 is formed to take the same shape of a flat rectangular plate as the main unit 3.
The optical disk drive 10 is used in a state where it is inserted in the bay of the main unit 3. At this time, an additional mechanism can be used to fasten the optical disk drive 10 to the main unit 3 such that the optical disk drive is not inadvertently detached from the main unit 3.
However, the related art portable computer described above has various disadvantages. For example, when the optical disk drive 10 was inserted in the bay of the main unit 3, it is not easy to detach the optical disk drive 10 from the main unit 3. The reason is that when the optical disk drive 10 is mounted into the bay, the connector 11 is connected to another connector in the main unit 3 and a front end of the optical disk drive 10 does not protrude from the main unit 3.
Further, a certain mechanism for allowing the optical disk drive 10 to be pushed outwardly from the portable computer may be installed within the bay of the main unit 3. However, the mechanism for allowing the optical disk drive 10 to be pushed outwardly occupies a large space in the bay, and an additional structure for transmitting a force applied by a user to the mechanism should also be installed in the main unit 3. Thus, this configuration also hinders the portable computer from being made light, thin and small.
The above references are incorporated by reference herein where appropriate for appropriate teachings of additional or alternative details, features and/or technical background.